Heart Of Glass
by Nil1875
Summary: Set after the episode 'Heart of Glass' where Stella cuts herself at a crime scene of an HIV Positive Vic. Will be Flack/Stella with an alternate Mac/Stella ending.


Title: Heart of Glass  
Pairings: Mac/Stella & Flack/Stella

Summery: This is set immediately after the episode 'Heart of Glass' in season er, three I think. Now this is the weird bit. This story will have two separate endings. Because I ship both of the above pairings, I'm going to write it so it goes either way. That way whoever wants to read it can pick. First chapter is done, and I'll start the second soon. Thanks!

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It was turning out to be the worst day of Stella Bonesera's life. Scratch that, the worst week of her life. First she had cut herself at a crime scene, then found out that Emery Gable was HIV positive. Then when she went to get herself tested, they told her it would be three months and three more tests before they could 'almost' positively tell her that she was in the clear.

She hadn't been able to keep her head on the case, zoning out every time Mac described the vic's declining lifestyle and the possibility that it was a suicide. It got to the point where she almost wanted to scream at him to shut up, to break down and sob because she was so scared, but she held it together.

She made it through the case, she made it home, all the way to her bathroom where she threw up. When Kennedy Gable had smashed in the window it had flown into her face and cut her, Hawkes had tried to help and Stella panicked. She'd cleaned up her face and then headed home as fast as she could.

Stella touched the scratch on the side of her face with shaking fingers and let out a sob. She was shaking all over from fear and adrenalin, her heard racing as her blood pounded. She hurriedly flushed the toilet and rinsed the foul taste out of her mouth before she turned on the shower and stripped off her clothes.

She managed to wash her hair with one hand, holding the other outside the water. They had stitched up her cut when she went to get the blood test and said she shouldn't get it wet for a few days.

The hot water calmed her down a little but not enough to stave off her anxiety. She slid on her bathrobe without bothering to dry off and headed into the kitchen to get a bottle of wine, for once in her life wishing she had something stronger in the apartment. She could do with it right now.

Half of the bottle was gone when someone knocked on her apartment door. Stella didn't answer it right away, instead reaching for her cell phone and remembering that she had turned it off. She prayed there wouldn't be someone on the other side of the door telling her she had to go to another scene.

Taking a deep breath and not caring that she was still wearing her bathrobe and her hair was a mess because she had never dried or combed it, she opened the door without looking through the peephole.

On her doorstep stood Don Flack Jr. with a worried look on his face and a Chinese bag in his hand. She smiled weakly at him and let him in. He didn't say anything, just hung up his coat and left his gun on her kitchen counter, setting the cartons of food up on the coffee table and getting them both chopsticks to eat with. They settled in the living room, Don on the couch and Stella in her arm chair.

Stella picked at her food in silence, unable to really keep her mind in her living room as it swirled through all the horrible thoughts that kept repeating themselves. The wine had calmed her enough to where she was just sitting, trapped inside her own head as her mind reeled from the events of the past two days.

Stella was finally dragged out of her thoughts when Don laid a hand over one of hers and squeezed gently. She looked up at him, surprised because she'd almost forgotten he was there, but didn't pull her hand away. His blue eyes were filled with concern and she could see every line on his young face as they deepened with worry.

"Stella? Will you talk to me?" he asked softly, the first time he'd spoken since he'd entered her apartment.

Stella shrunk back into herself as the prospect of telling him the truth and she shook her head, her now mostly dry curls bouncing from side to side.

"Stel, I know whatever is wrong must be big and I can tell you're scared, but you need to talk to someone," Don said as he twined his fingers with hers, covering them with his other hand.

She met his eyes again and saw the fear in them had increased in the last few seconds and she broke down crying. She sobbed, trying to hide behind the collar of her bathrobe But Don pulled on her hand gently until she was sitting on the couch, cradled under his arm protectively and crying on his shoulder.

When the tears finally stopped Stella held out her arm to show him the cut. She couldn't say it in words, not yet.

"When did this happen?" he asked as he carefully checked the cut then replaced the wrapping.

"A…a couple of days ago," she choked out, realizing it was the first time she had spoken since she had run from Hawkes earlier.

"Stel, did this happen at the Gable crime scene?" Don asked. He was putting together her behavior and the implications together, knowing it was serious enough to be true.

Stella nodded slowly, her tears coming again as she shook. "They won't be able to tell me for sure for three months," she managed to whisper.

"Everything Mac's been saying got to you, didn't it?"

Stella nodded again, dragging her arms from her lap to wrap around Don's waist, holding onto him like a lifeline.

"It'll all be fine my love," Don whispered in Irish Gaelic that he learned from his grandparents.

Stella smiled at the Gaelic and answered in Greek, "I'm glad you're here."

They looked at each other and then both started laughing because neither had any idea what the other had just said.

"Are you alright?" Don asked, in English this time.

Stella nodded as she wiped her eyes. "I'll be fine…I'm just so scared."

"I know." He pulled her close and hugged her, kissing her hair softly before he let her go and tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear. He noticed the dark circled under her eyes and frowned.

"Stella, have you slept since it happened?"

She looked down at her lap and shook her head. "I've been too busy and when I tried…I couldn't…"

"Come on then, I'm going to tuck you in and make you a cup of my mother's hot coco. It'll knock you right out."

Stella smiled and nodded, letting him lead her into her room and lay her out some clothes from the top drawer of her dresser.

"I expect you to be changed and in bed when I come back," Don said sternly, though he was smiling.

Stella almost giggled, thinking at any other time one or both of them would make joked at the inappropriate, not to mention absurd nature of the line he'd just used. Instead she just got changed and climbed under her covers, waiting for him to return. She hugged her knees and kept her eyes on the bedroom doorway, listening to the sounds of him moving in the kitchen.

Stella didn't want to admit it, but having Don there made her feel safe and protected, like nothing could touch her. She smiled when he walked back through the door, his feet bare, his tie gone, and a steaming mug in his hand.

He handed her the coco and then settled himself cross-legged on the end of the bed to watch and make sure she drank the mixture. She smiled her thanks and inhaled the wonderful aroma of the chocolate and immediately felt better.

"You think you can sleep?" he asked when she had finished her drink and se the mug aside carefully.

Stella nodded slowly, her eyes darting around the room. She looked everywhere but at Don, scared and almost ashamed to admit she needed him now.

"Stay," she whispered at last.

Don nodded and made to settle into the chair opposite her bed, but Stella grabbed his hand. He understood the look in her terrified eyes and he crawled under the covers with her, holding her close as she cried herself to sleep against his chest.

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Review please!


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